05/02/2002 09:05 AM House RLS

HB 464-CORRESPONDENCE STUDY PROGRAMS                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KOTT  announced that the  final order of business  would be                                                               
HOUSE  BILL  NO.  464,  "An  Act  relating  to  statewide  school                                                               
district correspondence study programs."                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
Number 2158                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE PORTER  moved to adopt Version  22-LS1494\X as the                                                               
working  document.   There  being  no  objection, Version  X  was                                                               
before the committee.                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Number 2164                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
RICHARD SCHMITZ, Staff to  Representative Jeannette James, Alaska                                                               
State  Legislature, explained  that HB  464 provides  guidance to                                                               
the  Department of  Education in  regard  to writing  regulations                                                               
regarding  statewide correspondence  study programs.   Version  X                                                               
includes a small  technical change located on page  2, lines 3-5,                                                               
which in part  specifies "the district is not  required to submit                                                               
a new  application more frequently  than every five  years unless                                                               
the  program is  designated as  deficient or  in crisis  under AS                                                               
14.03.123(a)".   He stated that  the five years was  a compromise                                                               
between  the  ten  year approval  process  that  charter  schools                                                               
currently go through and the  annual approval that the department                                                               
proposed correspondence  study programs go through.   Because the                                                               
designators are being  delayed, the thought was that  it would be                                                               
better  to use  the aforementioned  language in  order to  ensure                                                               
that  the  department  won't  require  that  these  programs  are                                                               
reapproved  every year  until the  designators  come into  force.                                                               
Therefore,  the parameters  remain  available  for deficiency  or                                                               
crisis and if the department  could show that those programs were                                                               
deficient or  in crisis under  the parameters, then  the programs                                                               
would have to be reapproved every year until corrected.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   JEANNETTE  JAMES,   Alaska  State   Legislature,                                                               
testified as the sponsor of HB  464, which she characterized as a                                                               
good  piece of  legislation.   She  urged the  committee to  pass                                                               
Version X.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE McGUIRE requested  that Representative James speak                                                               
to the [troublesome] fiscal note.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE JAMES agreed that  the fiscal note is troublesome.                                                               
This  bill  [Version  X]  doesn't create  any  new  liability  or                                                               
expense but rather  is almost the same as  the draft regulations.                                                               
To  that,  the   department  said  that  the   bill  expands  the                                                               
[correspondence  school] program  and  thus two  more people  are                                                               
necessary to  manage the program.   If that  is the case  and the                                                               
bill doesn't  do that, Representative  James suggested  that [the                                                               
funding  for  those two  positions]  should  be included  in  the                                                               
department's  budget.   The department  informed  her that  those                                                               
positions were in their budget,  but that funding wasn't obtained                                                               
and thus  this attempts to obtain  the money with this  bill.  In                                                               
conversations   with  the   co-sponsor  of   the  House   Finance                                                               
Committee, the recommendation  was to move the  bill forward with                                                               
the fiscal note which  will probably not be funded.                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR KOTT closed public testimony.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
Number 2305                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  KOHRING moved  to  report CSHB  464, Version  22-                                                               
LS1494\X, out  of committee  with individual  recommendations and                                                               
the accompanying  fiscal notes.   There being no  objection, CSHB
(RLS) was reported from the House Rules Standing Committee.